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Characterization of Organic Aerosol at a Rural Site in the North China Plain Region: Sources, Volatility and Organonitrates

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Abstract

The North China Plain (NCP) is a region that experiences serious aerosol pollution. A number of studies have focused on aerosol pollution in urban areas in the NCP region; however, research on characterizing aerosols in rural NCP areas is comparatively limited. In this study, we deployed a TD-HR-AMS (thermodenuder high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer) system at a rural site in the NCP region in summer 2013 to characterize the chemical compositions and volatility of submicron aerosols (PM1). The average PM1 mass concentration was 51.2 ± 48.0 µg m−3 and organic aerosol (OA) contributed most (35.4%) to PM1. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis of OA measurements identified four OA factors, including hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA, accounting for 18.4%), biomass burning OA (BBOA, 29.4%), less-oxidized oxygenated OA (LO-OOA, 30.8%) and more-oxidized oxygenated OA (MO-OOA, 21.4%). The volatility sequence of the OA factors was HOA > BBOA > LO-OOA > MO-OOA, consistent with their oxygen-to-carbon (O:C) ratios. Additionally, the mean concentration of organonitrates (ON) was 1.48–3.39 µg m−3, contributing 8.1%–19% of OA based on cross validation of two estimation methods with the high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) measurement. Correlation analysis shows that ON were more correlated with BBOA and black carbon emitted from biomass burning but poorly correlated with LO-OOA. Also, volatility analysis for ON further confirmed that particulate ON formation might be closely associated with primary emissions in rural NCP areas.

摘 要

我国华北平原是一个重度雾霾事件频发的地区。当前较多研究集中关注了华北平原城市地区的气溶胶污染,而对农村地区的气溶胶污染特征研究相对较少。本研究利用热扩散管与高分辨飞行时间气溶胶质谱联用系统(thermodenuder high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer,TD-HR-AMS),于2013年夏季在华北平原的农村地区开展了对亚微米气溶胶(PM1)化学组成及挥发性特征的观测。观测结果显示,PM1在观测期间的平均浓度水平为51.2 ± 48.0 µg m−3,其中,有机气溶胶(OA)贡献最多,占比为35.4%。进一步采用正矩阵因子法(PMF)解析得到了四类不同OA因子:还原性有机气溶胶(hydrocarbon-like OA, HOA),生物质燃烧有机气溶胶(biomass burning OA, BBOA), 氧化程度较低的含氧有机气溶胶(less-oxidized oxygenated OA , LO-OOA)以及氧化程度较高的含氧有机气溶胶(more-oxidized oxygenated OA , LO-OOA)。这四类OA因子对总OA的贡献分别为18.4%,29.4%,30.8%和21.4%。OA因子的挥发性排序为:HOA > BBOA > LO-OOA > MO-OOA,与其氧碳比(O:C)从低到高排序一致。此外,本研究还用两种方法估算了OA中有机硝酸酯(ON)的质量浓度,为1.48–3.39 µg m−3,对OA的贡献比例为8.1%-19%。相关性分析结果显示ON与BBOA和生物质燃烧排放的黑碳的相关性最高,而与LO-OOA相关性较低。通过对ON的挥发性特征进行分析,进一步说明了华北平原农村地区ON的生成可能与一次性排放有着紧密联系。

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0210004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91744202), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and Guangdong Province Outstanding Young Talents for the International Education & Development Plan: Post-Doctoral Program.

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Correspondence to Ling-Yan He.

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Article Highlights

• Four types of OA factors were resolved by PMF at a rural NCP site. The volatility sequence of OA factors was consistent with their O:C ratios.

• Organonitrates evaporated faster than OA factors but slower than inorganic nitrates, suggesting they were more relevant to primary emissions.

• Organonitrates accounted for 8.1%–19% of OA and they were largely influenced by biomass burning emissions in rural NCP areas.

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Characterization of Organic Aerosol at a Rural Site in the North China Plain Region: Sources, Volatility and Organonitrates

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Zhu, Q., Cao, LM., Tang, MX. et al. Characterization of Organic Aerosol at a Rural Site in the North China Plain Region: Sources, Volatility and Organonitrates. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 38, 1115–1127 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-0127-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-0127-2

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